0000000000595004
AUTHOR
Naiel Bisharat
Serum antibodies to Vibrio vulnificus biotype 3 lipopolysaccharide and susceptibility to disease caused by the homologous V. vulnificus biotype
SUMMARYIn 1996 an outbreak of severe soft tissue infections caused byVibrio vulnificusunexpectedly erupted in fish consumers in Israel with relatively little morbidity in fish farmers. To test the hypothesis that recurrent exposure of fishermen to the virulent strain may have provided protection against severe or symptomatic disease, we investigated the association between the immune response toV. vulnificusbiotype 3 lipopolysaccharide (BT3 LPS) and disease susceptibility in fish farmers and fish consumers. Serum samples were tested for IgA and IgG of anti-BT3 LPS in fishermen and fish consumers who suffered fromV. vulnificusBT3 infections and their matched controls. Pre-existing levels of …
Method for Specific Identification of the Emerging Zoonotic Pathogen Vibrio vulnificus Lineage 3 (Formerly Biotype 3).
ABSTRACT Vibrio vulnificus is a zoonotic pathogen that is spreading worldwide due to global warming. Lineage 3 (L3; formerly biotype 3) includes the strains of the species with the unique ability to cause fish farm-linked outbreaks of septicemia. The L3 strains emerged recently and are particularly virulent and difficult to identify. Here, we describe a newly developed PCR method based on a comparative genomic study useful for both rapid identification and epidemiological studies of this interesting emerging group. The comparative genomic analysis also revealed the presence of a genetic duplication in the L3 strains that could be related to the unique ability of this lineage to produce sept…
Serological and molecular characteristics of Vibrio vulnificus biotype 3: evidence for high clonality.
Vibrio vulnificus biotype 3 has been implicated as the causative pathogen of an ongoing disease outbreak that erupted in Israel in 1996. Recent work based on multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) showed that V. vulnificus biotype 3 is genetically homogeneous. The aim of this study was to investigate the existence of subpopulations within this homogeneous biotype by characterizing the surface antigens and analysing the sequence diversity of selected outer-membrane protein (OMP)-encoding genes. Rabbit antisera were prepared against biotype 1, 2 and 3 strains. The results of the slide-agglutination test, dot-blot assay (using fresh and boiled cells), and immunoblotting of lipopolysaccharides (LPS…